Harry Pahanyaila: Tax officers found nothing “useful”

Charter97.org has learnt it from the head of the legal department of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), Harry Pahanyaila, who gave his comment on the visit of the tax officers to the office of the human rights organisation.

“It was just a check. Tax officers come and try to find money or something valuable every time to seize it as a payment for the debt. As usual, they didn't find anything 'useful' this time. They understood they had nothing to seize and drew a report, which I signed,” the lawyer said.

The human rights activist noted that the BHC and the state hadn't yet reached an agreement on the case of tax evasion.

“The stumbling point is that we have two mutually exclusive documents. These are an order of an investigator to terminate criminal prosecution of the members of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Economic Court obliging us to pay the tax.

Our organisation has repeatedly applied to the general prosecutor's office and courts on the issue. The authorities don't want to solve the problem as such. We have no progress in this direction or another,” Harry Pahanyaila said.

It should be reminded that tax officers visited the office of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee without warning today. They handed in an order of seizure and/or distress of property and a notification on measures to detect the payer's property to committee head Aleh Hulak.